


Brother, My Brother

by ignite_pass_tetsuya



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Kagami's a great brother, M/M, Minor Injuries, mild descriptions of injuries, post Seirin vs. Yousen, they're just brothers not lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 12:11:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4705598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ignite_pass_tetsuya/pseuds/ignite_pass_tetsuya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haizaki and Kise have gone off to play their match, but Haizaki didn't leave Himuro in great shape after attacking him unnecessarily. Kagami knows he can't just leave him without helping, but he's also not sure that Himuro wants his help after he promised he wouldn't call him a brother anymore. But no matter what Himuro said, Kagami isn't going to let their brotherhood end just like that. He's going to fight for it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brother, My Brother

**Author's Note:**

> This is sort of how I imagine things would play out after Haizaki was a jerk and attacked Himuro for no reason after the Seirin vs. Yousen game. I like to imagine that Kagami was the one who helped Himuro out afterwards and that it was a little launching pad into rekindling their brotherhood, even before the events preceding the Seirin vs. Rakuzan game where they finally make up.

“Why did you come here, Taiga?”

“Ah, sorry… I’ll tell you another time. I promise.”

Kagami took a moment to really look Himuro over. Though he was finally standing upright, he definitely wasn’t in great shape. His warm-ups were covered in dirt, and the fabric covering his knees was torn slightly. He had bruises forming by his right eye and on the left side of his jaw, and probably more that Kagami couldn’t see. The way he’d been holding his abdomen earlier didn’t set well with Kagami either.

“You need to get checked out,” Kagami concluded, nodding in his direction.

“I don’t think these injuries warrant any major trips,” Himuro replied, trying to brush it off. “I’ll be fine. Let’s go back inside; it’s starting to get chilly.”

Kagami watched as Himuro turned to walk to the door of the building, noting everything wrong with his gait: he limped slightly, a hitch in his right leg, though he tried desperately to hide it. His walk in general was pretty stiff as he tried not to move more muscles than necessary to propel himself forward. Normally people swing their arms a little as they walk, but he refused to move his right arm at all. Shoulder, maybe? Kagami couldn’t be sure. And of course, he was also slow. Realistically, he should be at the door by now, not only halfway.

Kagami turned to Alex, who had also been observing.

“You know he’s just as stubborn as you are, Taiga. He’s not going to ask for help.”

“Yeah. I know,” Kagami said, flicking his gaze to watch as Himuro stopped for a second—catching his breath?—before continuing his trek to the double doors.

“You’re really the only one who can help him right now. Honestly, you’re probably about the only one he’d let near him. Go offer. Besides, it’ll help tear down the unnecessarily _stupid_ walls you’ve been building between each other.”

“He’s already made it clear how he feels,” Kagami retorted, looking to the ground.

“Yeah, well, people change their minds all the time. You did, didn’t you?” She gave him a pointed look when he looked back up. “Don’t sit here and tell me you were running out here just to chat about the weather. You were planning to try to make up with him until that asshole came around and ruined everything. I know you, Taiga. And there isn’t any chance you’ll just let your brother walk away for good. So go.”

“Aaaah!” Kagami growled in frustration, shoving his hands through his hair before stuffing them into the pockets of his warm-up pants. Then, without another word, he took off after Himuro, who had finally reached the door.

“Tatsuya! Wait up!”

Very slowly, Himuro turned his head to see Kagami running after him.

“Yes, Taiga?”

“Let me help you.”

“Taiga, I really don’t need—“

“Yes. You do,” Kagami insisted, cutting him off with a serious glare. “If you’re not gonna let someone else take a look at those injuries, you need to let me. Just… One last thing, before you seriously cut me off as a brother.”

Himuro started, the word “brother” eliciting a reaction just as Kagami hoped it would. Himuro eventually turned away, which Kagami took as a silent sign of agreement, and pushed the door open to let Himuro inside. He felt Alex come up behind him and follow him in, showing no sign she knew what they were doing.

“I’m going to head up to the stands to watch the next game,” she said, turning to her apprentices. “That Haizaki is an ass, but he’s also confident, so I’m interesting in how he plays. I’ll catch you guys later.” With a wave and a subtle flip of her hair, she walked away.

“Let’s head to the locker room,” Kagami said.

“We can’t, Taiga. We’re not playing right now.”

“No, but Kise is, and I guarantee he’s still in there after that little encounter. I’ll meet you over there after I grab our first aid kit.” He took off running for the stands.

With a sigh, Himuro began to slowly make his way over to the locker room that Kaijou currently occupied. As he reached the door, Kise was walking out.

“Ah, Himuro-san,” he said, giving him a small wave. “How are you doing?”

“Better,” he mumbled. “Taiga is going to check out the damage. Would it be okay if we used your locker room for a few?”

“Sure, go ahead,” Kise said. “I have to tell Kasamatsu-senpai what happened anyway, so I’ll let him know you’ll be in here for a little bit. Take care, okay?”

“Yeah, thank you,” Himuro said, watching as Kise returned to the court. Moments later, Kagami came up behind him.”

“Got it,” he said. “Looks like you caught Kise?”

“Yeah,” Himuro confirmed, nodding very slightly. “He gave us permission to use their locker room.”

“Great. Then let’s go.” He pushed the door open and let Himuro in, then moved to the back and set the kit down. He put his hands on his hips and faced Himuro, who wouldn’t look his way.

“Well,” he began. “I can’t do anything if you just stand there. Come over here and sit down. Take your warm-ups off.”

Wordlessly, Himuro thumbed his warm-up pants down over his waist and let them pool at his feet, revealing the game shorts he still wore. He stepped out of them so he didn’t have to bend at all. He left them there—he’d ask Kagami to retrieve them later. He brought his hands up to the snaps of his jacket and undid them, one by one, but didn’t remove it. He froze.

“What?” Kagami asked, starting to sound impatient.

“I… Ah…” Himuro mumbled. He hated this. He hated the feeling of being weak, especially in front of the person he’d called his little brother most of his life. He hated feeling like he couldn’t take care of himself, as if he relied on everybody for everything. It was petty and small, but he couldn’t bring himself to just ask Kagami to help him.

“Idiot. Come here.”

Himuro shuffled forward, lowering his hands. Kagami moved behind him and slowly, carefully, peeled Himuro’s jacket from his shoulders and set it on the bench.

“Your shirt’s gotta go too.”

Himuro took a deep breath in, held it for a few seconds, and then let it back out.

“I can’t,” he said simply.

“Then I’ll help, but it’s gonna suck either way. And I really need to look at your ribs. The way you acted earlier tells me they got the worst of it.”

Himuro visibly jumped. He did _not_ want to attempt to lift his arms over his head to get his shirt off. _No way._ Not with the way his shoulder was acting.

“Easy way, or hard way. You choose, bro.”

“… Please, just hurry and help me get it over with.”

Kagami grabbed the bottom of Himuro’s shirt and began to help lift it up, but Himuro didn’t make it far. His right arm only made it about halfway up before Himuro let out what could only be described as a scream before dropping his arm, holding it to his chest and curling in.

“Tatsuya! Did I do something? I’m sorry, I—“

“No, Taiga…” Himuro said through clenched teeth. “It isn’t you. I can’t lift my right arm. My shoulder…”

“I was afraid of that… Well, here. We can go one arm at a time, then.”

Kagami grabbed the hem of Himuro’s shirt again and helped him maneuver the sleeve over his left elbow, over his head, and down his right arm so he didn’t have to lift it at all. He gasped, trying to make it soft enough that Himuro wouldn’t hear, and had to resist the urge to punch a locker. Or Haizaki’s face.

“Taiga? You aren’t saying anything.”

“Sorry,” Kagami replied, managing to keep his voice much more even than he expected.

“Bad. I know. You don’t have to pretend that it isn’t. I can feel it all.”

“That _asshole_!” Kagami shouted. “What the hell put the thought in his head that he could just attack you like that? He’s damn lucky I didn’t catch him laying a finger on you or I _swear_ it would be broken and he wouldn’t be out on that court—“

“Taiga—“

“As soon as this game is done I’m gonna make sure he can’t play basketball again for a long time—“

“Taiga!” Himuro said, turning to Kagami and grabbing his wrist. “Calm down! It’s over! Besides, you’re still in the tournament! Pulling some stupid stunt like that and getting caught would mean the end of the road for you, and inevitably the end of the road for Seirin! Do you really want that? What would your coach and captain say? What about Kuroko? Don’t you want to make good on that promise you made him? You still have a shot at becoming number one! Don’t throw away _everything_ you’ve worked your ass off for because of a jerk like him! He isn’t worth your time and effort! Your team _needs you_!”

Himuro was holding him with an even stare, daring him to say he was wrong.

“Not only that… But you’re holding the wishes of every player on every team you’ve beaten so far, including mine. And if you gave that all up…” He trailed off, hanging his head slightly.

Kagami closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly and regaining his focus and control over his emotions.

“Right. My bad. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Your health is more important right now, anyway. So let’s get you looked at.”

Kagami helped Himuro over to sit on the bench and began looking over Himuro’s various injuries. Most of them weren’t _too_ bad, now that he took a better look; his back and knees were mostly scraped up from being knocked to the ground, with a few bruises beginning to form on the places he’d landed directly. They would heal pretty quickly. It probably looked worse than it was.

Kagami reached into the kit and pulled out some peroxide and cotton and began to dab at the various cuts on Himuro’s back, watching as it worked to clean the wounds. He did the same to the cuts on his knees. Those were worse than the ones on his back, but still nothing to sniff at, really. Either way, he wanted to be certain Himuro would be able to get back to practice as soon as possible.

Out of everything, it was the bruises blossoming across Himuro’s ribs that had gotten him so worked up.

“Damn…” Kagami didn’t know what else to say.

“I don’t think they’re broken,” Himuro supplied. “I know what that feels like. And while this sucks, it’s not as bad as that. Probably just bruised is all.” He gave Kagami a tight smile.

“I don’t really know what to do about it, though,” Kagami admitted. “My first instinct is to wrap it just in case, but…”

“I know you’re going to anyway,” Himuro said, chuckling a little despite the pain. He winced and held his breath, waiting for the flare to die down before he opened his eyes again.

Kagami wanted to turn away. He didn’t want to see the look of pain crossing Himuro’s features, but he forced himself to continue looking Himuro’s way, trying to let him know he was still here, he wasn’t going anywhere, and he wanted to help. It didn’t matter what Himuro currently thought about their brotherhood status.

“Yeah, I’m going to,” Kagami confirmed, already reaching for the wrap in the kit. “Can you stand up for me?”

“Sure.”

Kagami helped Himuro to his feet and stood in front of him, letting out one end of the wrap and holding it against Himuro’s chest.

“You’re not gonna like this. I’m gonna make it pretty tight. But if it’s too much, I’ll unwrap it and redo it; no big deal. You just have to let me know. Ready?”

Himuro closed his eyes and took a slow breath in, and let it back out just as slowly. He opened his eyes to meet Kagami’s.

“Yeah. I’m ready.”

“Okay. Here; hold this for me.”

He let Himuro hold the loose end of the wrap with his left arm and began to make his way in a circle around Himuro, unraveling the wrap as he went. Every time he came around to Himuro’s front, he looked to his face to look for any discomfort, but saw none.

That, or Himuro was just trying very hard to hide it.

When he reached the end of the wrap, he took a roll of tape out of the kit and made a single pass around Himuro’s ribs to hold it in place.

“How’s it feel?”

“Surprisingly… Nice,” Himuro admitted. “It helps much more than I would’ve guessed.”

“That’s great,” Kagami said, finally allowing himself a smile. “Ah… Unfortunately, I don’t have a clue what to do about your shoulder.”

“I can ask the trainer about it tomorrow after we return to Yousen,” Himuro said. “I think I just landed on it funny and that’s why it’s unhappy with me… It didn’t dislocate or anything, it’s just irritated. Probably thanks in part to our game as well, since it’s my shooting arm.”

“Could be, I guess,” Kagami said, unsure as to how much he could really believe. However, he’d already admitted he didn’t actually know how to help it, and he wasn’t really looking to mess with it and make it worse, so he let it go… This time.

“Taiga… Thank you. Even after what I said following our match…”

"It really doesn't have to be this way," Kagami insisted. "You just told me not to throw everything out the window, so why are you? Why are you so dead-set on trying to forget everything? I don't understand..."

" _Because you're going to leave me_!" Himuro hadn't meant to yell, but it came out much more forceful than he wanted. Not knowing what else to say, he just hung his head, refusing to look at Kagami.

"Tatsuya... What are you talking about?"

"You're better than me, Taiga," Himuro mumbled. "You're amazing, really. And because of that, you're going to have the attention of everyone who ever comes to watch you play. Hell, you'll probably be scouted by next year. And then what? You're going to go off to college somewhere and play, and I'll probably hardly see you again, if ever. I mean, realistically, you've got the potential to play at the pro level, Taiga. You might end up in a different country! Then... I really  _would_ never see you."

Kagami was stunned. He'd never imagined having this kind of conversation with Himuro, ever. He hadn't given much thought to his future yet, or where he could end up. He never thought about taking his basketball career further than high school. It just wasn't at the forefront of his mind. He was much too focused on winning the next game... And keeping his relationship with Himuro intact.

Himuro gave a small, shaky laugh. "I guess... What I really assume is that if I cut things off now and forget about it, it'll hurt less later."

Kagami couldn't take it.

“You’re still my brother, Tatsuya!” Kagami’s voice was firm, and Himuro’s eyes locked with his. “I don't know where this line of thinking came from all of a sudden... But I can’t just let it go. Even if I do go somewhere else to play, that'll be years down the road! Besides, you're a year ahead of me, remember? If anyone is leaving first, it'll be you. But that shouldn't matter! It's not like I imagined we'd just sweep everything under a rug and forget about it because we end up walking different paths. I'm not just going to _drop you like a rock_. That's  _absurd_. And at the same time, I can’t just pretend that our past didn’t happen, or that you weren’t the one who helped me in America and taught me the game I love. I guess, truthfully, I have _you_ to thank for meeting Kuroko and the team. If you hadn’t taught me to play, I wouldn’t be standing here right now. Maybe my life would be a little simpler, but it would be boring, too. So in the end, I should be thanking you, Tatsuya. Just... Don't give up on everything so easily. I lost you once, and I'm sure as hell not ready for it to happen again so soon. Or ever, for that matter.”

Himuro sighed, shaking his head. “I think… I think I just need a bit to think about everything. I need to sit back and reevaluate a little bit, get my priorities straight. But when I’ve reorganized my thoughts, I’ll come find you. We can sit down—with Alex, if you want—and talk things out. Then, we can put all of this ridiculous arguing behind us and move on.”

Kagami’s eyes widened. He was sure he couldn’t be hearing Himuro correctly, but at the same time, there was no way he was dreaming. This was really happening. Himuro—his _brother_ —wanted to rekindle their bond. He smiled a full, striking smile and nodded quickly.

“Yeah… Yeah, I’d like that a lot, Tatsuya.”

Himuro smiled back, and it was a true smile that Kagami hadn’t seen in a long time. What he _really_ wanted was to hug him, but he didn’t dare with the state of his ribs.

“Here; I’ll help you get your shirt and warm-ups back on.”

He helped Himuro maneuver back into his T-shirt and slipped his jacket back over his shoulders. He went over and grabbed his pants from where they had been left on the floor and slipped them over his shoes, pulling them up until Himuro could reach without needing to bend over. He went over and packed up the first aid kit, looking around one more time to be sure they had all of their belongings. When he determined they had everything, they made their way to the door and out into the hallway.

“I should probably go find my team,” Himuro said, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. “Atsushi’s probably looking for me.”

“Probably. You might wanna see how he’s doing.”

“Well… He’s not much for talking about his feelings, but I’ll see what I can do.” He smirked.

“Heh, yeah. I need to get back to my team too. Finish watching Kise kick Haizaki’s ass and all that.”

Himuro stifled a giggle. “Yeah, and all that.”

“I’ll see you around?” Kagami asked hopefully.

“Yeah,” Himuro said. “I wouldn’t miss your games, Taiga.”

Kagami laughed out loud, letting himself enjoy the moment before looking back to Himuro.

“I’ll hold you to that, you know.”

“I know. And I won’t let you down. Good luck in the rest of the tournament. I’m rooting for you.” With that, Himuro turned and walked into the stadium to find the rest of his Yousen teammates.

Kagami closed his eyes and tilted his chin to the ceiling, replaying the events of the night in his head. He never would’ve expected an outcome like this when all was said and done. He had gone into the game believing that, no matter what, he was going to lose something in one way or another. Either Seirin would lose the game and their chance at a Winter Cup championship and the title of #1 would be out of reach, or he’d win the game and lose his lifelong brother. But now, by some miracle, he probably wouldn’t have to lose anything. Because despite his demeanor after the match, it didn’t seem like Himuro was ready to give up their brotherhood, either. He smiled at the thought.

He walked into the stadium to find the rest of his team and took his usual seat beside Kuroko.

“How did it go, Kagami-kun?” he asked, a smug smirk on his face.

“Well, it’s kind of a long story now, but I’ll tell you the details later. In the end, everything worked out, just like you said.”

“I’m happy to hear it.”

“Yeah. And Kuroko?”

“Yes, Kagami-kun?”

“Thanks. I needed that.” Kagami grinned before turning back to watch the court.

“Of course. I’m glad to help.”

Kuroko watched as Kagami reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out his ring, settling it back over his head and around his neck, right where it belonged.


End file.
